The Oncoming Storm
by DarknesFalz
Summary: The Doctor must make the ultimate sacrifice. To save the world, a child must die. But not just any child. His child. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Tigovia

He was bored. Immensely, incredibly bored. As in out of his skull with boredom. Everything was calm. Entirely _too calm_ and he couldn't stand it. His latest traveling companion, Martha Jones, sat to his right, calmly reading a mystery novel. Initially, he'd only offered her one trip as a Thank You, for saving his life. However, the two of them had now been traveling together for much longer and The Doctor, wouldn't have it any other way. The Doctor had long since given up on trying to read, preferring instead to pace around the Tardis console like a demented tiger. "I can't stand this!" he finally exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "It's too quiet, too calm and I can't stand it!" Martha barely looked up from her book. "It's nice to have a quiet night for once, Doctor. " she said. Not that I don't love the running, but a little quiet sometimes can't hurt either. It's nice to have a little bit of a break every now and then." The Doctor just looked at her askance. "It's not like I want something, you know, _bad_ to happen or anything" he said. "I just want a little more excitement than just floating about in the vortex!" he exclaimed. Almost as if that were a signal, the Tardis suddenly lurched and threw her occupants from their chairs. "Well now, there we are!" the Doctor exclaimed delightedly as he bounced to his feet. "I wonder what's going on now?" Martha just sighed and put down her book. It would probably be quite sometime before she got to read it again, anyway. The Doctor ran frantically around the Tardis controls, moving a lever or twisting a dial every few seconds. "Well, where are we?" Martha asked. The Doctor stopped momentarily, "I have no idea! Isn't that marvelous?" "We're definitely somewhere we've never been before!" He ran to the doors. "Fancy going for a walk?" he asked, holding his hand out to her. Martha grinned back at him, "But of course, kind sir!" The Doctor grinned back at her, "Allons-y!" he cried as they stepped out of the Tardis together.

The Doctor and Martha Jones stepped out of the Tardis and into a dazzling alien landscape. The sky was a minty green, dazzling and sparkling with puffy baby blue clouds. The outlines of three moons hung in the sky, overshadowed by the twin suns in the bright daylight. The wind brought a sharp, sweet smell on the air, and the grass was a bright shining gold. The view was absolutely breathtaking. _"Wow"_, Martha breathed. "Wow, indeed" the Doctor agreed with her. "Let's have a look about, shall we?" They strolled off down the slope hand in hand, chatting merrily. Within a few minutes, they came upon what appeared to be a small town. Various inhabitants scurried to and fro, human in appearance with the exception of a small bony ridge down the center of the forehead. The travelers looked about in interest. They seemed to be in some type of outdoor bazaar. One of the merchants, a large man with many colorful scarves wrapped about his shoulders beckoned them. "I see you are new here, perhaps I can interest you in a scarf for the lovely little lady, hmm?" he cajoled, eyeing the Doctor speculatively. "These scarves are made of only the finest Tigoven silk, freshly spun." He allowed them to feel the cloth, they ran their hands lightly over the proffered sample. "My that does feel nice, doesn't it?" the Doctor smiled at Martha as she enjoyed the feel of the luxurious cloth against her skin. She grinned back up at him. The merchant, sensing a connection between the two, decided to sweeten the deal. "And of course, with the purchase of one scarf, you can get an additional scarf of a different color for half price." he smiled at them, sensing a sale. Even if the male didn't want to purchase anything, the female with him was obviously enjoying the feel of the cloth against her dark skin and would more than likely persuade him to purchase. In the end, they walked away with several of the colorful scarves, much to the merchants delight. Martha just couldn't decide which she liked best, so had gotten several different colors, each with an outfit in mind. The Doctor grinned down at her indulgently as she chattered away about how beautiful her new scarves would look with several of her outfits. He couldn't help but to agree with her.

They continued on down the white cobbled road, peering into booths at various interesting things every few minutes. "Well, now, there doesn't seem to be very much going on here" the doctor stated with a disappointed air. Just then there was a shout from a few stalls down and a commotion. "**Stop him, stop that thief**!" "Well, then again,!" the Doctor and Martha grinned at each other and took off in pursuit of the rapidly fleeing suspect.

They followed the fleeing man up and down the walkways, and down alleys, finally coming to what appeared to be a dead-end. The man looked desperately around, clutching what seemed to be a small figurine that was obviously the object stolen from the merchant. "Now, calm down." the Doctor tried, "I'm sure we can help" "No, no one can help, this does not belong to that peddler, _he_ is the thief! I only take back what belongs to my people!" the man cried "Now, I'm sure we can discuss this, why don't we head back and …. " the doctor stopped mid sentence as the man, figurine were suddenly gone in a barrage of twinkling gold lights. "Arrgh! Transport beam!" "Where did he go?" Martha asked. "I've no idea the doctor frowned. "But come on, let's go talk to that merchant. I want some answers." they headed back to the bazaar where they came upon the merchant who had been in possession of the figurine. "All right," the doctor said,"what _exactly_ was it that was stolen?" he demanded. "Yeah, all I saw was a small figurine, surely it's something that can be replaced?" Martha asked. The merchant looked aghast, "My Lady, that small figurine was one of the last remaining likenesses of the great goddess of Tigova, and was not for sell. It was my personal property, for good fortune" he said "Well, the person who took it seemed to think it was a lot more than just a simple figurine, they went through a lot of trouble to get it and then to disappear in a transport beam. " He looked at Martha, "You know what Martha, I think I fancy a bit of a rest, yup that's exactly what I need, a nice rest!" Martha just smiled at him, she knew where this was going. They would be doing very little, if any resting. More like a lot of investigating, and more than likely a lot of running as well. The merchant gave them the description of an inn not more than a few minutes walk away from their current location.

They soon came upon the inn that the merchant described. As they walked in, they were greeted by a friendly Innkeeper. the doctor flashed his psychic paper and checked them in as Mr. and Mrs Smith. Martha glanced at him. "Can't have the locals getting suspicious, now can we?" he said _sotto voice_ the Innkeeper led them up the stairs to a nicely furnished room, a full sized bed sat in the middle of the room, with various drawers and tables around the room. They thanked the Innkeeper and proceeded to explore the room. Martha yawned, "I didn't realize how late it was. I think I'm going to have a bit of a lie down, yeah?" Satisfied with the room, she took off her boots and looked around. "I take it we're sharing a bed again then?" she asked. " the doctor grinned at her, "but of course Martha Jones! Unless of course, you'd prefer the couch?" he teased her. She slapped him on the arm, "Oh stop it you! At least there's more room in this bed than the one in 1969!" "Well then, my lady Martha Jones, thy bed awaits." "Why thank you, kind sir!" she grinned up at him. They continued talking about what could be so important about the small figurine, if indeed it was simply just _'a small representation of the great Goddess of Tigova'_ What would prompt that man to steal it? There was definitely something going on, and there was nothing the doctor liked more than a good mystery. He laid in bed awake, just thinking, long after Martha had fallen asleep.

Once Martha had finally fallen asleep, it gave him the chance to study her unnoticed. She was smiling slightly in her sleep, enjoying her dream, and The Doctor grinned silently with her. He couldn't explain his feelings, honestly he didn't want to . He'd known that she had feelings for him yes, but he'd honestly never thought he'd find himself returning them. He'd not said anything to her, in case her feelings for him had changed. But he couldn't help but wonder what it would be like, to finally admit to both himself and to her how he felt. He'd never known anyone quite like Martha Jones and he was very certain that he never would again. Martha was absolutely one of a kind, and he wouldn't have it any other way. His traitorous thoughts were doing him more harm than good, and the Time Lord shook his head slightly and finally drifted off to sleep.

Martha awoke in the middle of the night, she had felt someone was watching her, but as she looked over at the doctor, he was sound asleep, snoring lightly. She watched the doctor as he slept, moving even in repose , never still. She smiled gently, eyeing the 900+ year old time lord speculatively. She could admit, within in her own mind that she had feelings for him. In the beginning, it had just been somewhat of a crush, admittedly a very a hot and bothered crush, but a crush none the less .

Several hours later, The Doctor and Martha awoke at the same time, smiled at each other and got up to get ready for the day. After their various morning absolutions were done, they proceeded down the stairs into the main lobby of the inn. There the Innkeeper was waiting for them. She grinned at them happily. "Well, now dears, have a good rest did we?" she asked, the doctor replied "Oh yes, thank you very much. We were very comfortable". Martha smiled and agreed. "I don't suppose I could interest you in having a bit of breakfast with me? It's included with the room." The doctor and Martha glanced at each other. "How can we refuse?" she smiled. As they sat at the table, joining them was not only the Innkeeper of the inn but also her 9 year old son, Govet. The boy was bright and inquisitive and kept up a steady stream of conversation between the three adults. The doctor soon asked, "You know, I was wondering about that theft down in the bazaar yesterday. I mean someone went through quite a bit of trouble for what seems to be just an old figurine of a goddess no one worships anymore." The Innkeeper stiffened. "Oh, really?" she asked, not quite nonchalantly. It was obviously a forced nonchalance, her hand shook barely noticeably as she went to take more breakfast sausage from the serving plate. Noticing this, The Doctor narrowed his eyes at her, "Do you know something?" he asked. Martha quickly stepped in to cover The Doctors unintended rudeness. "Not that we're a cussing you of course! We just thought you might have heard something about it. It was pretty suspicious to steal something supposedly worthless and the use a transport beam to get away. We just want to know what happened so that we can get the artifact back to its proper place." The Doctor glanced at Martha then at the Innkeeper. He inclined his head at Martha "right what she just said. " The Innkeeper looked at them and then sighed, apparently coming to a decision. "Govet, go to your room." She commanded. "What,"the boy questioned I've not even finished ! Then take it with you, go on now off you go! once he was gone, she turned back to The Doctor and Martha. Taking a deep breath, she began to speak. Many hundreds of years ago , when people still worshipped the great goddess and received her blessings, one of Her priestesses designed a set of figurines , 4 in all, that would be taken to the four corners of the world and used to channel the power needed to setup a defense grid around the planet. Each if the four figurines was under the guardianship of the leader of the main temple for the area, guardianship was often handed down from leader to the new leader in each temple. As the years passed, the figurines were lost. All but one apparently. It's said that the figurines still hold vast power, even just a single one can hold enough power to destroy a great deal. She said. The doctor and Martha looked at each other, so what you're basically saying is that even though this figurine seems innocent enough, it can actually be used as a weapon? Martha asked. The doctor swallowed, oh Martha Jones, if I'm correct, this device is just a piece of a much larger, more deadly weapon, am I right, Innkeeper?". The Innkeeper looked down at her plate. The doctor continued. "Because if I'm right, there used to be a sister planet to Tigovia, Tigarie. What happened to Tigarie?" the question hung in the air as the Innkeeper looked ashamed. She finally began to speak haltingly. "It was the war. The leaders of our two worlds were family, distant cousins. No one truly knows why the fighting started, only that it did, and lasted for several generations. Our church military created the figurines as the focal points for a defense grid. " The doctor looked dangerous. "Let me guess, the grid did more than just _defend_, didn't it? Once agin, the Innkeeper began to squirm. There was suddenly a knock the door. "Innkeeper! Innkeeper!" A man shouted. She suddenly looked very frightened. "Quickly you must leave, out the back way hurry!" "Wait, what?" "The clerics, they have heard our conversation, they hear everything, now you must go!" "I will get nothing more than a fine, but you will be punished more severely as you are not Tigoven. You must leave, quickly out the back way!" They ran. They barely made it out of the inn before several black suited weapon holding men were after them.


	2. Deadly Discoveries

They raced haphazardly between buildings, trying to keep as much distance between themselves and their pursuers as possible. They kept going until they were within view of the Tardis. Suddenly, their pursuers were much closer. "Come on Martha, we can make it! " The Doctor coaxed. "Just a little further! " "I can't" she replied "Oh yes, you can Martha Jones, we don't have a choice!" the Doctor shouted, while turning around and pointing his sonic screwdriver behind him. Suddenly, there was an obstruction in the way of the uniformed men. "There that should hold them for a moment…" The men simply pointed their weapons and vaporized the obstacles in front of them. "Or maybe not" the Doctor finished " lets go!" they finally made it make to the Tardis in record time, unlocking and falling into the time machine, completely out of breath. The Doctor immediately ran to the console and set the time rotor in motion. The Tardis wheezed in her disappearance, leaving the uniformed men shouting angrily at the empty space left behind. "Whew, that was close!" exclaimed Martha "Yes, it was" the Doctor wondered. "Wonder why they were after us? Just for a few questions?" He mused. There's definitely something more going on. "We'll have to hide for bit, then we'll sneak back down for some answers. " Martha just wondered, "don't you think we should leave it alone? I mean, they obviously didn't want us interfering." The Doctor looked up, "Maybe not, but a planet been destroyed that shouldn't have been. The timelines are incorrect. I have a duty. " Martha caught on, "so you're saying that there's time travel involved?" "Yup," the Doctor answered her. "We're in the vortex for now, we'll let things cool down a bit and then pay another visit to the Innkeeper. I want some answers." The Doctor said. The duo decided to just relax in the Vortex in the Tardis. The Doctor kept looking at Martha every few minutes, seemingly deep in thought. Martha observed the Doctor covertly as well. The Tardis observed both of them and wondered how long it would take for them to realize that they both had feelings for each other. After a short while, Martha finally drifted off to her room to sleep. She figured she'd need the rest with all the running they'd probably be doing later. The Doctor remained in the control room for a little longer, wandering about the console and adjusting a setting here and there. In reality, his mind was no where near the control room but was down the hall, wondering about the young woman he'd been traveling with. He knew he had feelings for her, and that she had feelings for him, but he had no idea how to broach the subject with her. And then there was always the case that he would outlive her. He hated that she would be able to be with him for such a short time, but human lives were so fleeting. Now feeling throughly depressed at the thought of that, the Doctor nodded good night to the Tardis and drifted off to his own room.

After a good nights rest, the Doctor and Martha met in the Tardis' small kitchen for breakfast and to plan strategy. "The way I see it is this," the Doctor was saying, "We need to get down there and speak to the correct people about what went on and if possible find away to fix it. Those people down there are guilty of something and the fact that such a powerful artifact was stolen means that it could be used to destroy another planet. We must prevent that." "If what you say is true, " Martha interjected, then surely they're going to try even harder to keep us from finding out anyting more. the Doctor sighed, you're right, but we really haven't much of a choice. I wouldn't be doing my duty if I let this pass and they ended up destroying some other defenseless planet. Martha put down her empty tea cup. "Well then, what are we waiting for? Lets go save some planets!" she grinned at him. "Martha Jones, I thought you'd never ask!" the Doctor explained. The two put their breakfast dishes away and went to their rooms to get ready for the day at hand.

The Doctor located a secluded area to land the Tardis and proceeded to land with the parking brake off this time, which allowed for a much quieter landing. It was night when they arrived, and they cautiously Martha peered out of the Tardis doors to ensure that now one was in sight. all was quiet, the inhabitants were sleeping for the most part. "right." the Doctor said quietly. we need to get somewhere we can check the records. I want to know exactly what happened when Tigorie was destroyed. " We'll need to find a library or some kind of records building then, yeah?" Martha asked. "Oh yeah." said the Doctor and began to take off in the direction of the city center. Within in about 30 minutes, they came upon what appeared to be the city hall. the Doctor looked up. "cant get more recordsy than city hall" he said with a grin. seriously? You want us to break into the city hall?" Martha asked disbelievingly. "i thought we were talking about a library or public kiosk or something"! "Oh definitely not! the Doctor replied. come on then." he proceeded to lead them around the side of the building to the employee entrance. using his sonic he was able to gain entrance to the building. They wondered in, down a long hall and up a set of stairs, following a sign that said central records. "Well here we are!" the Doctor exclaimed when they arrived at the door. "This should clear a few things up for us" the Doctor stated. they entered the room, and the soft glow of several computer streams gave off an eerie light, casting the two of them in a creepy, pallid, green shade. The Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at the nearest computer terminal and then proceeded to view the information there. Martha waited for a moment and then asked, "well? what did you find?" as the Doctor had become angrier and angrier by the moment as he read. "There was no war." he said angrily. "what? but the Innkeeper said… " Martha began. the Doctor continued, "There was no war and the Innkeeper was obviously lying. We need to see the merchant as soon as possible" he may have an idea of who stole the figurine and wants to use it again. They silently walked back down the stairs and headed toward the employee entrance door when they heard a noise behind them. The sound of a weapon powering up. The Doctor turned around slowly. Martha had already turned at the sound and gulped audibly. The armed guard looked down the sights of an incredibly huge weapon at them. "Well now, what have we here?" he drawled. The man was massive, all muscle with barely any neck. The weapon would hardly be needed. Any perpetrators would run just seeing the sheer size of him. Martha and the Doctor began to back away slowly, "well you see it's like this…" the Doctor began. "Stop!" the man yelled. "I don't want to hear it." He picked up a small radio from a hip pocket and spoke into it, keeping the gun trained on the Doctor and Martha. "I've got them. Bringing them in now. " He put the radio away and motioned in the opposite direction from which they had just come. "All right you two, march!" the Doctor tried, "Look I'm sure there's been some sort of misunderstanding, if we could just.. " "Shut up!" the man bellowed. And then proceeded to hit the Doctor viscously in the stomach with the but of the weapon. The Doctor went down like a sack of potatoes, groaning and clutching his stomach. Martha immediately flew to his side, "You didn't have to hit him!" She yelled, " he was coming with you!" she said. The guard just grunted at them and motioned with the gun again. Martha helped the Doctor up from the floor but he remained doubled over in pain. The guard motioned again and suddenly, there was a loud crash behind them. Not bothering to see what was going on the Doctor suddenly straightened and grabbed Martha's hand. "Run!" he shouted. They headed out the nearest exit and frantically began running for the Tardis. Several other armed guards had noticed the commotion and were now in hot pursuit. They ran seemingly forever, but were still no closer to the Tardis. They hid in a small alcove as the would be pursuers ran by them. A voice suddenly called out to them. "Quickly, come in here if you wish to get away from them!" the Doctor and Martha looked at each other. "How do we know we can trust you?" The Doctor asked. The strange woman looked at them, then back towards the guards who were rapidly doubling back. "Doesn't look like you have much of a choice." She smiled. "Ah good point! Let's go Martha!" he said grabbing Martha's hand and running after their unexpected source of help.

The woman guided them to a hidden door in a hidden corner of a building and led the inside, closing and sealing the door behind them quickly. She continued to lead them through what appeared to be some type of underground cellar, then up a very long set of stairs into a small room. The room contained a small bed and a dresser. "You may stay for the night" she said, motioning toward the bed. We will discuss things in the morning after we have all rested. "Thank you" Martha said, "Thank you so much for helping us." The woman snorted, "You may not be so thankful in the morning. Rest for now, I will send food." With that the strange woman headed down the stairs. "Well, now that was interesting, wasn't it?" the Doctor said, "fancy a bit of a lie down Martha?" he said proceeding to sit on the small bed. " Martha eyed the bed with unease. "It'll be a bit cramped don't you think? She asked. " Oh, I think we can handle it, plenty of room!" In truth, the Doctor was very nervous. They would indeed be very close in the the tiny bed. Moments later, a young boy knocked and then entered the room with various fruits, cheeses and bread on a tray. He left them the tray and then silently showed them the washing area and bathroom facilities before racing back out. The two travelers both laughed as he left, then proceeded to take part in the light meal. Once the meal was done, Martha went to wash up, coming back into the room and removing her shoes and jacket. The Doctor left to do his washing up, then also reentered and removed his shoes overcoat and jacket. They both still nervously looked at each other and the tiny bed. The Doctor finally went over to it and proceeded to lie down. "Well come on then Martha, I don't bite…" then he grined, "unless you want me to of course!" " Ooh listen to you, cheeky! " Martha exclaimed. The Doctor left as much room as possible in the narrow bunk to allow Martha room to lie down. She lay facing away from him on her side. The Doctor kept his arm awkwardly at his side and tried to stay as small as possible in order to not make her feel uncomfortable. In reality, he just wanted to put his arms around her and let her body mold itself to his. They drifted off to a very uncomfortable slumber.

During the night, they had rolled toward each other. The Doctor now had his arm around Martha's waist. Her small body was spooned into his comfortably. Martha awoke briefly and noted their position, but not wanting to disturb the Doctor stayed where she was, smiling a little to herself. _I finally get him to put his arms around me and he's asleep_ she drifted off again. As it turns out, the Doctor wasn't really asleep. He felt the slight movement Martha had made, and would have moved if she had asked, but when she drifted back to sleep, he relaxed. He didn't want to let her go — it just felt too right holding her like this. He could feel himself becoming aroused and quickly tamped down on the feeling, simply enjoying the felling of the woman in his arms. He let his mind wonder and let the warm scent of Martha fill his senses. He felt as if he were drowning in her, and he definitely did not want to be saved. It was a heady feeling, intoxicating and he couldn't help moaning slightly. She turned over to face him in her sleep and he froze, thinking he had woke her. He simply stated at her, noting her beauty that only enhanced her keen mind and her kind heart. Her eyes opened suddenly and she looked right at him. "Doctor?" she asked curiously. The Doctor was suddenly overwhelmed, with her scent filling him and with her in his arms so tightly wrapped up with him, and did the only thing he could. He kissed her. Martha's eyes widened for a moment before she felt herself giving in to the kiss. The kiss started off gentle, then turned into a battle for domination as they each jockeyed for a better position on the small bed. Martha finally ended up beneath the Doctor as he continued to kiss her fervently. He continued to rain small kisses down her throat, coming back up to make small nibbles at the pulse point which caused Martha to throw her head back and moan loudly. The Doctor heard the noise and was suddenly a man possessed, he simply couldn't get enough of her. He was fully aroused and didn't have any plans to stop as long as she allowed him. He stopped kissing her for a moment and looked a question into her eyes. His eyes were nearly black with lust and wanting, his breathing labored. Both hearts were pounding furiously. She peered back up at him with equal abandon. "Martha, are you… " he didn't get to finish as she pulled him down for another desperate kiss. He ran his hand down her body, then slowly up her shirt to where the clasp of her bra was. He bit his way down her neck again, stopping briefly to mouth a mound of breast through the thin top that she wore. She was writhing beneath him, and the Doctor could smell her arousal on the air like some potent drug. He was drunk off it and didn't want to stop what he was doing to see what the incessant banging noise was. KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK! There was a loud banging at the door, but the Doctor hardly ceased his ministrations, he was far too gone by now. All he knew right now was Martha and how she responded to him. Light suddenly flooded the room and the Doctor was flung violently away from Martha. Dazed and angry, the Doctor fought until Martha's voice calmed him down. "No Doctor, it's all right!" she came to him and touched his face gently. "They thought you were attacking me." The Doctor looked shocked, "What? Why would I attack you?" , he asked, confused. The woman who had brought them there had the good sense to look ashamed and glared at the young man who must have summoned her to their room. "Well, since we are all up, we may as well speak now. " I'll give you a few moments to be presentable and then I will meet you downstairs in the kitchen. You should have no problem finding it." With that she left them.

After she was gone, Martha and the Doctor looked at each other nervously.. " I guess we should meet her downstairs in the kitchen then" the Doctor said, "Right, in the kitchen" Martha said. They pulled their shoes back on and adjusted their clothing then headed down. They entered a small kitchen, the woman and young man were already there, along with the Innkeeper of the inn they had stayed at and several other people. Each of them greeted the newcomers silently. "Now let us begin" said the woman who had resuced them. "I am Rasil, this is my son, Doven." We have gathered here because of a series of thefts in recent weeks,from each of us has been taken a seemingly harmless figurine of the ancient Great Godess, but we have learned recently that these figurines may not be so harmless" "Exactly, the Doctor jumped in. "There also used to be a sister planet, Tigorie, what happened to it. All of the older adults in the room proceeded to shuffle about and shift and look ashamed. **"WHAT HAPPENED?!"** the Doctor's voice boomed. Everyone in the room flinched. "We do not speak of it..." one man began. "Well someone had better start saying _something_, and pretty damn soon!" the Doctor rounded on him. The Innkeeper finally answered him. "Doctor, when I told you it was hundreds of years ago, I lied. The war happened only 40 years ago. And it wasn't really a war. It was a massacre." She began to haltingly tell him of the one sided war that occurred during her youth. She took a deep breath and then began her tale. "There were twenty of us. Both men and women. We were told that there were invaders coming, that they would destroy our homes, our lives. But that we could fight them. We could stop the invaders before they ever came to Tigovia. And we believed them, our government. After all why would they lie to us, loyal young citizens that we were?". She paused to take a drink. "We were the best and the brightest, hand picked by the _Vorten,_ the intelligence branch of our government. The name means 'powerful mind, in ancient Tigovian. We were trained, conditioned to fight with our minds. We used the figurines as a focal point for our power. One of us, focusing our power in such a way, with the figurine to help amplify…" she shuddered. "What she's saying Doctor, is that only a couple of us would have been enough to destroy a city. It took all of us to destroy Tigorie." said Rasil sadly. The Doctor and Martha were aghast. "Why?" The Doctor asked. He was in complete disbelief. What reason could there possibly be? The Innkeeper began to speak again. "We don't know why. We did as we were told and didn't find out what actually happened until a while later, when we discovered that we could no longer see Tigorie in the sky. It makes no sense." "What we do know is this, Doctor," Rasil continued. "Someone has managed to steal nearly all of the figurines. And I'd imagine they know how they work. They'll need someone with a powerful enough mind to control the devices, and I can't imagine that we would have been the only ones trained. This isn't even all of us. Many of our group went into hiding once it was discovered what actually happened." The Doctor stood up. "Right. We need to find out who has those figurines. Then we need to destroy them to prevent what happened to Tigorie happening to any other world." The group began to drift off agreeing to meet again the following night.

The Doctor and Martha went back to their room in the attic. It was still in the very early morning and not yet light out. Martha looked at the Doctor. He seemed deep in thought, focused intently on the problem at hand. "Well, I guess I'll try to lay down for a while longer, maybe catch a bit more sleep." She said "care to join me?" She asked him, hoping to continue what they began earlier. The Doctor shook his head. "No, you go on and get some rest. Time Lords don't require as much rest as humans. " Feeling a little disappointed, Martha turned and sat on the side of the bed removing her shoes before lying down. She soon drifted off to sleep. The Doctor remained seated at the small desk. His mind was a complete jumble. He was deeply aroused, but was thus far able to control it. He knew he had to stay away from Martha for the time being. Earlier, when they had been so involved, he hadn't had the presence of mind to stop. His entire focus had been her. The scent of her skin. The feel of her beneath him. Just a few moments longer and he would have been inside her… The Doctor groaned silently, baring his teeth and running his hands through his spiky brown hair. He couldn't think about that now. There was a problem to solve and he needed to give it his full attention. Martha would just have to wait.


	3. Caught in the Act

The next morning, they met the group in the kitchen again to plan. The Doctor and Martha were given native clothing in order to help them blend in. They would be attempting to ascertain what the government was up to, and for that they needed to get inside a government facility without being noticed. One of the group, Risal's eldest son, Delmar, was employed as a janitor at the government building and would be able to sneak them in unnoticed. They went over the plan one more time and then went their separate ways, the Doctor and Martha agreeing to meet with Delmar at the rear entrance to the in one hour. Separately they made their way to the back entrance of the municipal building. Risal's son had given them discarded sanitation workers uniforms. They helped to use the uniforms to enter the building undetected. Both uniforms were drab gray, with matching drab gray caps pulled down over their heads. At the sound of the starting bell, they joined the throng of workers entering the building. Throughout the course of the day, they made small talk with the other sanitation workers and followed the orders of the desk jockeys,picking up snippets of information here and there. At the end of the day, the Doctor and Martha sneaked into an unoccupied administration office in order to get a look at the information on the computers. Martha kept watched while the Doctor used the sonic to scan through the computers database. "No mention so far… wait a minute!" Martha looked over her shoulder at him,"what did you find something?" The Doctor grinned, "Oh ho ho, did I! Martha come take a look at this!" Glancing down the hall one more time, Martha quickly made her way over to the Doctor to see what his discovery was. What the Doctor had found has basically a complete manifesto of names and ranks of people who were being trained or had been trained as thought assassins. Each of the stolen relics had been assigned to an assassin. They had the proof they needed, now what to do about it? The Doctor carefully started making copies of the information contained in the files when they heard noises outside. "Doctor, hurry!" Martha said. The Doctor quickly finished coping the files onto a small disk which he quickly stuck into his pocket. He and Martha made their way out of the office before the unknown persons reached them. They had just managed to duck into an unused supply closet when they were able to distinguish the voices and what they were saying. "Are you certain they'll be ready in time? " A man was saying. Another replied,"they should be, Tigorie was just a test run, now that we have the assassins skills perfected and able to be channeled via the relics, it's a small matter to take the best and the brightest telepaths of our world and train them to our needs. And who cares if the telepaths we happen to pull just so happen to be from the lower class? It's not like any one will care if they die!" The two men laughed heartily and continued on passed the Doctor and Martha. Inside, both the Doctor and Martha were fuming. "How dare they! Using their own people in such a way!" Martha quietly exclaimed, the Doctor laid a hand on her arm in a halting gesture, the men were still talking. "Are the ships ready?" asked one. "Very nearly, only 3 more days and we'll be ready to launch. All of our new recruits should be ready by then." "What about the missing relic?" asked the first man. "I am sending out a patrol tonight to retrieve it. They have permission to use deadly force if necessary. We must procure that final relic!" The men continued on their way, leaving Martha and the Doctor stunned.

After the two men were out of range, Martha and the Doctor slowly crept from their hiding place. They continued on down the hall, and out the employee entrance in the back, making sure to keep to the shadows. Neither said a word as the crept through the back alleys and made their way back to Risal's small home. As they entered, Risal met them at the door. "Well?" she asked. "What did you find out?" the Doctor sighed. "We haven't much time. We must do something, quickly" They are planning an all out invasion." Risal gasped, along with several other people in the room, putting her hand over her mouth in her shock. The group gathered again, this time to plan a strategy that would get the figurines out of the hands of the government. They couldn't allow them to use people like they had used them in the past in order to commit what was basically genocide. They spoke long into the night, coming up with plans and discarding them, before finally coming up with the idea of having one person recover a figurine each by getting close to the telepathic controllers . It would be the Doctor's job to disable the telepathic amplifier in each of the relics, basically making the amplifiers completely useless. Martha was to help with getting the relics back into place. Basically, if all worked properly, they would steal the relics one by one, disable them and then put them back into place with none the wiser until the controllers attempted to use them. Thus they would save a planet possibly several planets from invasion and slaughter.

The next morning was D-day, when they would begin recovery in earnest. The Doctor and Martha followed Delmar to work as normal, entering through the employee entrance as before. They began their day of cleanup of the building after separating, a look passing between them. The Doctor was very worried about Martha, it was harder for him to help her if she wasn't with him, but he had to maintain his cover. As the day progressed, the office workers gradually went home, leaving the building empty. Martha was cleaning the room where one of the relics was kept, locked behind a glass cage. It would be a simple matter for the Doctor to retrieve it, disable it and then replace it. She turned to go find the Doctor but discovered she wasn't alone A bulky guard stood behind her eying her speculatively. Martha attempted to walk passed him, nodding in greeting as she went, but the guard grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back. "You know, " he leered, " I could be _persuaded_ to not say anything about you being in here you know." Martha shuddered, "I was just cleaning and look I'm leaving right now." She slipped out the door and tried to walk away, but the guard managed to grab her by the back of the neck, shoving her into the wall. "**Let. Her. Go!**" it was the Doctor, standing just behind them , eyes flickering and his voice like the calm before a storm. His face was a carved mask. Hearing the tone in the Doctors voice, the man stepped away from Martha, but then foolishly tried to rush the Doctor instead. The Doctor simply side stepped him, using the sonic screw driver to cause the electronic belt he wore to go wild and shock him. The man dropped to the ground unconscious. The Doctor stared at the man for a moment longer before going over to Martha and grabbing her in a fierce hug. "Martha, are you all right!" he asked frantically. "Yeah I'm fine, look Doctor I found one of the relics!" she led him into the office and showed him. "Good job, Martha" the Doctor said pointing his sonic at the figurine. Within moments he was done, the figurine would no longer amplify the thoughts of the telepathic controller. "Now we just have to find the others and then get back to Risal's." "Do you think they are all here?" Martha asked. "Oh I doubt it" the Doctor said, they are going to want to keep the devices as far apart as possible, in order to maximize usage and to prevent what we just did from happening. First part of the job done, they slipped out o the office and passed the man still lying on the floor. He was moving slowly, starting to come to. The Doctor and Martha hurried around him and down the hall to the employee exit. They slipped out, making sure to keep their hoods over their heads. Suddenly there was a shout behind them."Stop!" they froze, glancing over their shoulders and saw that the man had not only awoken, but had gathered reinforcements. "Well now you see, we were just leaving for the day... the Doctor began, then used the sonic to cause several boxes to land in front of them, temporarily blocking the way. He looked at Martha. "Run!" They took off down the alley. Weaving in and out of nooks and crannies and finally making it to Risal's home. However, before they could attempt to enter, Risal's front door was thrown open, several men exited, all of them heavily armed. Risal and her family were no where in sight. "They got to them!" Martha exclaimed. "No", the Doctor frowned. "Hopefully they were able to get some where to hide. Those guards look pretty disappointed at what they found. Or rather what they _didn't_ find." Come on we've got to get to the Tardis. They began to make their way to where the Tardis was hidden when suddenly they heard weapons fire behind them. They ran faster, but the enemy was getting closer by the second. The Doctor again used the sonic to set off a chain reaction in several of the low riding vehicles the people of this world used, using the devices to trip up the guards chasing them , there were still enough people chasing them to get by the attempted obstruction. Finally the Tardis was in sight. "Come on Martha just a little further." Shots rang out from half a dozen disruptor rifles around them, blowing up trashcans in the alleyway around them and nearly disintegrating almost everything they hit. Hearts pounding, the duo kept up a frantic pace. They were only a few feet away from the Tardis when the unthinkable happened. The sound of disruptor fire sounded much closer, and suddenly, Martha screamed. The Doctor skidded to a halt, mere steps away from the Tardis. He turned, and was horrified to see her falling, seemingly in slow motion. "No, Martha!" he screamed, dropping to his knees beside her. There was gaping, raw, hole in her right side.


End file.
